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’90s favourite The Rocketeer getting reboot with black female lead

One of Disney’s most beloved cult classics, The Rocketeer, is set to zoom back on to our screens in rebooted format.

Adapted from Dave Stevens’s 1980s indie comic series of the same name, the 1991 film directed by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) told the story of Cliff Secord – a stunt pilot who discovers a rocket powered jet pack that enables him to fly without an aircraft.

Now, in part owing to a massive fan turnout to celebrate the original’s 20th anniversary at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre in 2011, Disney is said to be developing a reboot of the film, which will be set six years after the original, after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis. We know so far that the new movie will follow a young female African-American pilot seeking to protect the jetpack technology from an evil scientist bent on turning the tide of the Cold War.

Helmed by screenwriting partners Max Winkler (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl) and Matt Spicer (Flower, It’s Not You, It’s Me), we can’t wait to see the updated version of one of our childhood favourites.